A review by blankpagealex
Medallion Status: True Stories from Secret Rooms by John Hodgman

5.0

John Hodgman is one of the best living writers for capturing the middle age experiences of nerdy, white men, a group of which I consider myself a member. His books are not the type I would consider universally lovable, but at my current place in life I find his ruminations about loneliness, family, and the experience of being an outsider wholly relatable, funny, and well-articulated.

What I love about his writing is that mixed in with comedic anecdotes about the gamification of travel, crashing on friends' couches, and attempting to teach children to like their dad's pop culture, Hodgman finds moments to explore whatever current "big" moment the country is experiencing. In Vacationland he has a lovely section about the murder of Michael Brown and the rise of Black Lives Matter. In Medallion Status he writes about the sinking feeling of living in a country that just elected Donald Trump. In both of these pivotal moments he acknowledges that a white, middle class man is not likely to be as impacted as so many others, but it's impossible not to reckon with the change we have undergone as a nation and to try to figure out one's place in it.

I'll continue to look forward to Hodgman's future books and hope that they all are as witty and clear-eyed as the last two.